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When a rescuer picked up the half-dead orange tabby cat in a gutter in West Philadelphia's Clark Park there was little hope of ever finding out who was responsible for him being there.

After all the park is a popular dumping ground and it's probably not often the evicted cats are able to be identified.

Imagine the surprise of volunteers with City Kitties when the cat was scanned and lo and behold...a microchip turns up.

So, as Dr. Megan Andeer worked her magic to bring this critically ill cat back to life, City Kitties rang up the phone number on the microchip.

Here's what happened next:

Upon exam, Dr. Andeer found a microchip, and a Cat Doctor staff member called the number listed on the chip. Someone claiming to be the owner’s mother picked up and confirmed the cat belonged to her adult daughter. When informed that the cat had been found and was receiving veterinary care, the woman replied, “He was acting sick. I thought my daughter took the cat to the hospital, but I guess she just put him outside.” The woman seemed completely unconcerned that her family’s declawed, defenseless, gravely ill cat had been outside on a cold, rainy day. When the Cat Doctor employee asked if her family wanted the cat back, she declined, saying he was too sick.

Declawed. Sick. And thrown out on the streets. City Kitties says it will try to file cruelty charges against the owner who at least did one thing right: surrendered him to people who will care for him.

Clark Kent is not out of the woods yet. He was severely dehydrated and today x-rays showed he had a piece of metal in his colon, which doctors hope will pass naturally because he's too weak to be operated on.

City Kitties has been overwhelmed with responses to help Clark Kent and have a nice, um "kitty" for the kitty. But the group, which rescues and rehomes stray cats in West Philadelphia, can always use additional funds to support its ongoing good work.

Kudos to Kitty City and the Cat Doctor and to Clark Kent, kitty of steel: Stay tough.